Victim cross examined in Sadowski trial

MARQUETTE — The re–trial of an Ishpeming man charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment and torture continued today.

During his cross examination of one of the alleged victims of Jason Sadowski, defense attorney Tony Ruiz challenged the victim’s testimony as well as their memory. The victim repeated the story that they went to Sadowski’s house for marijuana and ended up bound and tortured in his basement after confessing to stealing four dollars.

Ruiz asked the victim about details on the story she could not remember, such as exactly how much money they stolen, how many times they were hit and if they said they were handed a knife by Sadowski. Ruiz additionally brought up past convictions the victim had, including lying to an officer.

The victim said that she could not remember much of the night because it had been four years and they had been in counseling to forget the incident.

Also testifying was Officer Ben Takala, who was called to assist the Ishpeming City Police Department during the incident.

He testified about the condition of one victim, whom he said was hysterical, complained of an headache from being punched multiple times, had ripped clothing, red marks on their face and duck tape on their wrist.

The officer was shown pictures of the victim and confirmed various parts of his story; however he also confirmed that the pictures were not taken out front of Sadowski’s property.

Ruiz said that things could have changed.

“So you don’t know whether or not that rip ripped any further between when you saw her and when that photograph was taken,” Ruiz said. “You don’t know if anything else about her appearance has changed between when that photograph was taken and when you observed her outside Marital Way.”

Sadowski’s trial continues Thursday in Marquette County Circuit Court.